


Hole in the Sun (Street Rat)

by alley_cat_toulouse



Series: Hole in the Sun [1]
Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mental Health Issues, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:53:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28127190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alley_cat_toulouse/pseuds/alley_cat_toulouse
Summary: Pulling a gun on someone doesn't typically lead to friendship, but here they are. Or, how a homeless street kid and an ex-Valentino make it to the big time.
Relationships: Female V & Jackie Welles, Misty Olszewski/Jackie Welles, V & Jackie Welles
Series: Hole in the Sun [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2066091
Comments: 16
Kudos: 78





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! No idea where this will end up so.... I guess buckle up? No real tw, just canon-typical violence. Enjoy!

She did what any sensible person would do, staring down the barrel of a gun--she threw it in gear and slammed her foot down on the gas. The little wonder doo-hickey sparked and shorted before she even had a chance to make the tires chirp against the concrete of the garage floor. The engine shut down without so much as a whimper, and his hands were wrapped in her tank top, yanking her out of the seat. 

“Wow, you can drive. Now _get_ the _fuck_ out,” He growled, hauling on her. 

V’s fingers scrabbled for purchase against the interior of the car determined to not leave it, even though, with the device dead, she wasn’t moving this car fuckin’ anywhere. As flashing lights filled the garage, he straightened, distracted. 

“ _Qué chingados?!”_

She took the opportunity to kick out at him, her booted heel connecting with the side of his thigh ineffectually. He didn’t even seem to notice, preoccupied with the squad cars encircling them with sirens and lights on blast. Shouted orders reverberated in the concrete space, reverberated in her head as she was successfully yanked from the car this time and thrown to the cold, rough floor. 

If looks could kill, that bastard would be a withered husk on the floor. But instead, here he was, nose to nose with her, green eyes crinkled in amusement. She didn’t really find anything all that funny about the situation, but she also had a nice patch of road rash on one side of her jaw, and the nose she’d busted just hours before was dripping blood on the pavement. He was in considerably better shape to start off with.

He struggled against the officer holding him pinned to the floor, testing their grip and craning his head to talk to their commander. V didn’t bother, resting her cheek on the floor as blood from her nose and lymph from the raw skin mingled and soaked into the concrete below her. She was all out of fight, for the moment. Though from the sound of it, her aggressor nearly had talked their way out of this situation. Her eyes slid closed, but only for a second before another voice joined the fray.

“It’s a waste of effort. I have no time to testify or play at an investigation.”

V’s eyes peered up from her position, scraping her cheek again as she shifted to get a look. So _this_ was the dude she very nearly managed to fuck over. She didn’t feel all that bad about it. Stints asked a question she didn’t hear all that well. She hadn’t been hearing all that well since she’d gotten jumped, and she had planned to swing by a ripperdoc after the job to see what was up.

She managed to catch the next exchange, “I am suggesting you toss them in the sea, cuffed legs broken so this trash doesn’t float.”

Chills ran down her spine as she realized just how deep they were in it. On her left, an exhaled curse tickled her cheek and she shifted her gaze to the now very wide and now very scared eyes of the man who’d gotten her into all this, as far as she was concerned. She began to narrow her eyes in a glare, but before she really could, she was flipped on her back, blinded by the overhead lights of the garage.

The last thing she heard before the darkness was the sound of her nose breaking… again.

* * *

Jackie felt like he’d have whooped for joy when the officers ripped the bag off his head and shoved him out of the squad car and into a pile on the dirty back alley asphalt--or at least he might have felt that way if not for the working over they’d given him before leaving him there. A little Heywood justice, as it were. Still, bloodied is better than dead, and so he sat up to get his bearings. 

Beside him, the little thief was stirring, looking considerably worse for wear. He glanced over in time just to hear the sickening crunch of her pushing her nose back into place.

“Motherfucker…” She whined, pushing herself upright to spit a wad of bloody saliva out next to his boot. He shifted away ever so slightly and took a deep breath. She worked her tongue behind her lips, checking the integrity of her teeth. Loose, but not broken. 

“Honestly, for a sec there, things looked iffy. Wasn’t sure we were gonna worm outta that alive,” He mused, half to himself, half to no one in particular. Certainly not to her. If she’d gotten her ass outta the car when he’d asked, he’d have been home free. From the corner of his eye, he could see her jaw working.

“Nah, Stints wouldn’t do us like that.” She finally conceded, following her statement with a swipe at the blood still trickling from her nose.

Jack’s eyebrows raised and he leaned forward and turned his head to actually look at her square on. His wrists were tender to the touch from the cuffs, but it didn’t stop him from rubbing at the marks that were forming. He’d been in them plenty of times before, nothin’ new.

“You sure about that?”

“Uh-huh.” The girl nodded, before wincing and pressing the heel of her hand to the space between her blue brows. God, her head was fucking killing her now. “He’s Heywood-born, bred, and grown like us. Hates suits as much as you do.”

She shifted to mimic Jackie’s pose--feet planted wide, elbows on knees, shoulders rolled in as she hunched over, not quite ready to get to her feet yet. “Did what he had to do, that’s it.”

They let the silence linger between themselves, tired and heavy, but still writhing with the sounds of Night City. Nothing was ever still here, ever quiet. Not that Jackie minded too much. He’d never known anything else, anyway.

“If I hadn’t come along, you’d be cruising Night City in sexy wheels right now.” Jackie admitted. He looked… oddly penitent. Guilty, even. Maybe it was all a show, but V felt the anger burning in her chest cool a bit. She sighed.

“Nah. C’mon. Job was toxic from the start.” Kirk had screwed her, big time. She still needed to solve some way to protect Pepe, but that car was never going to have been in her hands anyways. It was just a ploy to get her out of the way. Put her up in a cell for a few months so Kirk could play without her. “Even Kabuki under-the-counter magic can’t get around an alarm like that. Shoulda known I’d have the PD on my ass.”

Jackie fixed her with a look from under his lowered brows, scooting to face her better. He had blood trailing from the corners of his mouth and both nostrils, and V wondered briefly if he’d taken more than one blow to subdue. He was looking almost as bad as she was.

“So, maybe now, as God ordained,” He smiled, wincing ever so slightly as the expression pulled at his split lip. He thrust a meaty hand in her direction, gold chains jingling. The motion startled her. “Jackie Welles.”

Recovering from her moment of fright, she gingerly grasped his hand in hers. She was hoping he wouldn’t be one of those people who shook your hand like they were trying to break it. Her already busted knuckles didn’t deserve that. Her slim fingers disappeared in his grasp, but he was surprisingly delicate with his greeting.

“Vuh-V. I’m V.”

Jackie sat back, pleased as punch and like he hadn’t been the subject of police brutality mere moments before. “I know you. You hang at the Coyote.”

There was something about the way the name rolled off his tongue--round and full and exotic, stretched in the middle and cut short at the end. Not at all the way the locals pronounced it, with a pinched start and a trailing vowel. He said it the way the name was _meant_ to be said.

“Got the job to steal those wheels at the Coyote. From Kirk.” She admitted. Jackie opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off, “Wait, Welles? Like Mama Welles? Thought I recognized the name.”

Whatever comment Jack had wanted to say about Kirk, it was forgotten. Instead, he puffed up with pride. “She’s my blood, alright. The Coyote’s her dive.” He looked away, down the alley towards the bustling street. “It’s strange you and I never met before.”

V didn’t really know how to answer, so she went with a lopsided shrug. Her right shoulder didn’t want to cooperate, but she couldn’t tell which beating had caused it at this point. Sensing he wasn’t going to get anything else from her at that point, Jackie pushed himself to his feet. From her spot on the ground, V had to crane her neck to look up at him.

“C’mon, let’s go have some lunch.” He announced, settling his hands on his hips. This time, V was pretty sure she didn’t hear him right. She _really_ needed to get her phonic implant checked. She leaned back on her hands still regarding him. 

“Lunch?”

Jackie waved her question off and laughed, the noise low in his chest. “You would not _believe_ my mama’s chili. Best in town.”

When she still didn’t respond, he switched tacks. “Gettin’ one of my good feelings.”

V still didn’t respond, and despite the pain in her face, her turquoise eyebrows pinched together questioningly. He was an odd one, for sure.

“‘Bout what?” She finally asked, uncertain she was following his train of thought anymore.

“‘Bout us!” He gestured between the two of them. “Sense a kinda chemistry, y’know?”

V did not know. V was pretty sure the mountain of a man clad in a Valentinos jacket wasn’t chemically compatible with her. Like water and oil fires, or baking soda and vinegar, or nitroglycerine and well, anything. Explosive. Dangerous. Certainly not the positive thing he seemed to think it was.

When she didn’t move, he jerked his head towards the entrance of the alley, giving a little wave with his hand. “C’mon. I’m fuckin’ starved.”

“Okay, food it is,” V groaned, pushing herself to her feet, despite her body’s protests, “Let’s go.”

Grandly, Jackie gestured an _after you_ , bowing slightly at the waist. Even dumped in a back alley, V knew where she was. Heywood was in her blood, and she was pretty sure she’d never _not_ be able to find her way around there. Hitting the street, she took a split second to orient herself before making tracks towards the Cojo Coyote.

“You’re paying though,” She said over her shoulder. “I got mugged this morning and you fucked up my job so I’m short on scratch.”

Jackie grumbled in Spanish behind her, but it was a good-natured sort of grumbling. The type of grumbling an indulgent older sibling would do as a token of resistance before giving in to a younger sibling. He probably would have bought her lunch anyways, even if she hadn’t said anything. Still, V was one to say what she wanted, and what she wanted was to eat on his dime, since he’d blown her gig.

* * *

The Coyote was still buzzing with activity, though the after-lunch lull had cleared the place out a bit. Stepping into the bar, V gritted her teeth as the rest of her truly shitty day came flooding back.

“I’ll be right back,” She ground out, not bothering to look back at Jackie. She had a score to settle, and it was going to happen now. Jackie watched her go, noting the scary calmness that descended over her.

V took the steps to the upper level two at a time, sauntering towards the booth where Kirk was still parked, hours later. He saw her coming, eyebrows raising behind his sunglasses.

“Too bad about the Rayfield,” He sneered, “Too bad about Pepe.”

Faster than a cobra striking, V’s fist was connecting solidly with Kirk’s jaw. She loved the crunch it made, even as electric fire shot up her wrist, the way the flesh of his cheeks undulated with the concussive force of the blow, the way his head snapped in the direction of the hit. She fully expected his pet dog of a bodyguard to be on her now, but instead, she heard a bit of a scuffle behind her and a dangerously low, crushed velvet and ashes voice murmur,

“Ey, ey, ey, _el Gordo_. Not so fast there, huh? The lady just wants a word.” Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Jackie using his bulk to pin the bodyguard to the wall, beringed paw wrapped around the man’s throat. Not squeezing, yet, but the threat was there.

Turning her attention back to Kirk, V snarled under her breath at him.

“You fucked me on the Rayfield, Kirk, but no more. You crawl out of this bar with all your teeth and never come back, or I will hunt you down every goddamn day of your rat bastard life to kick the shit out of you. That means that you stay away from the Coyote, you stay away from Pepe and his… all of it. We have an understanding?”

Kirk’s glasses were long gone, but now she could see his pupils blown wide with fear, eyes flicking between her and his escape down the stairs. Slowly, he nodded, realizing it was the only way he was walking out.

“Remember--Every. Goddamn. Day.” V hissed, moving out of his way. Seeing that Kirk was headed for the door, Jackie reluctantly released his prey as well.

“Shit, _chica_ ,” Jackie murmured after a moment of watching the retreat, “You’re scary like that. ‘Nd here I just thought you were a thieving li’l street rat.”

V ran her tongue over her teeth, pausing to toy with one that wiggled a little in its socket, before sucking on them to make a _tckk_ sound. “I’ve had a real bad fuckin’ day, Jackie. But I’m thinkin’ it’s gonna get a little better now.”

Jackie laughed, that genuine, room-filling kind of belly laugh that made all eyes in the place turn to look at him, and clapped her on the back. V staggered a little under the blow, her slight and waifish frame rocked by his excitement.

“Let’s get you some food, huh? And maybe a FreezPak for that face of yours,” He added, surveying the two black eyes she had blooming. “And maybe some tequila.”

V didn’t feel like she had much space to argue. The adrenaline was wearing off, anyways, and she figured she’d better park her ass before she fell on it. Jackie planted her in a corner booth, cast in shadow by a burned-out bulb, with a muttered _aquí_ , before heading to the bar. She hardly noticed his absence. She was distracted by her loose tooth and the hum of hypoglycemia settling into her blood. Offhand, she wasn’t sure when the last time it was that she’d eaten, and she’d spent her calorie reserves today, that was for certain. 

The barback beat Jackie to the table, dropping off a round of shots, generous bowls of spicy-smelling chili, and a stack of tortillas in a warmer. V wondered briefly what the etiquette was here. She was fuckin’ _starving_ but somehow it felt wrong to not wait. Fortunately for her, she didn’t have to decide. Jackie appeared a moment later, kneading a mylar FreezPak in his hands to activate it.

“Sorry, _mamá_ moved the medkit. Took me a minute to find it.” He offered her the pack and she took it gratefully. Through the foil shell, she could feel the soft gel inside growing cold. It would stay that way for hours, unlike ice. Hell, V didn’t think she’d ever actually _seen_ ice. It was one of those corpo things, now. Everyone else just used tiny packets filled with the gel inside the FreezPak in her hand. V tipped her head back against the cracked vinyl of the booth and laid the pack across her eyes and the bridge of her nose.

“Ughhhh…” She moaned as the cold soaked into her skin. God, she was going to look so gnarly tomorrow. She wondered if it was even possible for her to lay low for a few days to heal up. She fuckin’ needed money and that meant working, and working meant getting more busted up. Maybe she’d scare the shit out of some low-level goons and make some pocket eddies to keep her going. Honestly, she wasn’t much for merc work, anyways. Better thief than a goon.

The sounds of eating from across the table made her stomach clench in hunger. V couldn’t hide under the FreezPak much longer. She shifted the packet enough to uncover one eye, just enough to see so she could knock back a shot of tequila before tucking into lunch. The tequila burned unpleasantly on its way down, the chili burned in a more agreeable way, and she thought maybe Jackie’s bragging wasn’t for nothin’.

She glanced across the table and was surprised to find that Jackie was looking back. He didn’t flinch or look away when she made eye contact, just lifted one shoulder ever so slightly in a _so what_ gesture.

“So,” Jackie began, breaking the quiet space between them, “What _pinche madre_ was stupid enough to try’n mug you?”

“Not a local, for sure.” They’d better hope she never saw them again--she wasn’t one for killing but god _damn_ she’d make an exception for them. Her comment earned a chuckle, even though V wasn’t sure what was all that funny.

“You busy tomorrow?” He asked, pulling a tortilla out of the warmer and folding it. V shook her head as much as she dared.

“Nah. Just plannin’ on lickin’ my wounds.”

“Got a job. Small one, but could use an extra set of hands.” He explained around a mouthful of food. V just regarded him, expressionless behind the FreezPak. 

“And?”

“You busy tomorrow?” He repeated, setting down his spoon and leaning back, “You wanna go on it? My way of apologizing for the fuck up today, huh?”

V considered the offer, wondering what the catch was. She didn’t make friends easily, but that didn’t seem to be getting in Jackie’s way at all.

“C’mon. I told you we got some kinda chemistry,” He added, trying to coax her into it. “Go fifty-fifty on it.”

“Sure.” V finally agreed, her tone guarded. It was the even split that sold her, honestly. She was expecting a fraction of a cut. Honestly, if he’d wanted to kill her, he’d have just ratted her to the cops and let them do it. She could probably trust him. And if he broke her trust, well… that’s what her knife was for.

“Preem, holmes. Where’s your place? I’ll pick you up tomorrow.” Jackie looked ridiculously pleased with himself, his face crinkling around his cyberwear. V froze. She didn’t know how to answer his question, or at least, not in a way that protected her dignity. _Oh, the alley behind the Chinese medicine shop._ Psh, fuck no.

“Not sure.” She settled on that as an answer.

“You’re… not sure where you live? _Chica,_ your head okay after all that?” Jackie’s brows steepled together and he leaned forward, elbows on the table. The chains around his wrist clinked together as they settled with gravity. V tipped her head back and shifted the FreezPak to cover both eyes again.

“Ain’t got a place.” She mumbled. He leaned forward more.

“What’s that?”

“I was planning on using my cred chip from yesterday’s job to get a room, but some motherfucker mugged me and smashed my face into the wall, and then another motherfucker fucked up my next job. I’m all out, choom. No money, no room.” She explained, sounding pained. Hell, she wasn’t the only person bouncing between alleys in Night City, but she didn’t like admitting it. The vulnerability of it, revealing she had no locked door to escape behind.

Jackie sat back, chewing that new bit of information over. She wondered if their perceived chemistry was strong enough to overcome that news. 

“Ey, no worries. You can crash with me tonight. Get you paid tomorrow.” His face split into a grin, that only faltered for him to dab at his split lip with his fingertips to check if they came away bloody.

V dropped the FreezPak to the table so she could look at him with both eyes. “Crashing with a virtual stranger who pulled a gun on me a few hours ago? Yeah, nothing can go wrong there.”

Jackie actually looked… hurt. “Hand to God, ‘m a perfect gentleman. _Mi madre_ wouldn’t let me get away with nothin’.”

“Momma’s boy,” V snorted. 

“Ain’t nothin’ wrong with that, holmes. We look out for each other, we’re all we got.”

Honestly, he had her backed into a corner. He had the job she desperately needed in his hand, and she was just a scared alley stray sniffing around to see if she could get some. If he wanted her to crash at his, who was she to complain? Maybe she’d even get a shower out of the deal.

“Okay then. Deal. I’ll stay tonight, do the job tomorrow for half, and I’m gone.” She extended her hand across the table to him. He took it, shaking it firmly, yet gently--aware of his own strength it seemed.

“A’ight… partner.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: drug mention.

Jackie decided that his good feelings were paying off. Sure, the scrawny street kid he’d more or less forcibly adopted was still skittish and feral. She didn’t trust him, but he could live with that. He genuinely appreciated her dry, deadpan humor when she dropped her guard long enough to crack a joke. V was good on jobs--sneaky, with a strict personal code of never killing when she could subdue, and never subduing when she could get around them. It was a little different from his usual guns-blazing style, but he appreciates the balance her cooler head brought to the pairing. 

She had a tendency to disappear for a day or two after a tough job, but he learned he could trust her to show back up at the Coyote when she was ready. A few pieces of her clothing hung in his closet, which he figured was about as close as he’d get to an acknowledgment that maybe, just maybe, she’d return.

That first night she’d stayed at the Welles’, Jackie’s ma had teased him gently about _El Cojo Coyote_ \--the lame coyote--being a bar, not an edict. She wasn’t unfamiliar with her son’s soft heart, nor his strays. Still, a cursory look at V told her that this particular stray probably needed the care more than most.

“Take my room,” Jackie had insisted, “No funny business, I’swear. You can even lock the door behind ya.” She had, and despite the strangeness of sleeping in a space that smelled distinctly of another person, V slept.

She hadn’t stayed the next night, but she had reappeared when he called her with another job. Freshly showered and wearing clean clothes, Jackie guessed she’d found herself a place to stay for a bit, now that she had some eddies padding her pocket. And so the pattern continued. Some jobs she showed up for, still bruised from the last but clean. Others, she had stayed with him, heading out into the city at his side. Still others, she showed up rumpled and smelling distinctly of an alleyway. At least now her collarbones didn’t protrude as sharply from underneath her tank top, so he guessed that at least she was eating. Wasn’t his business to know what she spent her money on, anyways, especially not if she showed up, did the work, and did it well.

Still, it was a little strange that he hadn’t seen her around the Coyote in a few days, even if they hadn’t had work during that time. The weather was growing bad, and he couldn’t help but worry for her. Tipping back the rest of his beer, he reflected on the first job they’d worked. Felt like years had passed, even though it was really closer to three weeks.

* * *

“Hey, _chica_ , three coming your way. Get out.” Jackie hissed across the room to the slight frame of his partner perched in the corner like a shadow. She was jacked into an access port, manipulating the ‘net, hopping between cameras to find where their target was before they proceeded. She didn’t seem to hear him--and she needed to jack out now and get behind cover if she wanted to keep their presence unknown. Three was too many for them to handle without guns, and she’d been real clear at the start that she wanted to avoid that.

Swearing lowly, Jackie stole across the room, less-than-silent in his haste but hopefully no one would hear him. Once he reached her, Jack yanked her port from the wall and shoved her through the nearest open door, into a tiny storage closet that wouldn’t hold them both. Now _he_ was fucked. There was a hulk of a vending machine further down the hallway and he scrambled for it, sheltering behind it just in time for the goons to round the corner. Someone was looking out for them, as far as Jackie figured, because they passed by without noticing them. Jack crossed himself and whispered a prayer of thanks before slinking back out of the shadows to retrieve V and finish the job.

“What happened back there?” He asked, once they were safely away from the megabuilding and lost in the crowds of Night City. Frustration laced his tone, making it more barbed than he’d intended. It had been stupid--ignoring his warning, especially when _she_ was the one dead set against making a mess.

V’s brow furrowed in confusion. Both eyes were ringed with dark stains of bruise, but the right one was a little on the puffy side, giving her a lopsided, comical look. She didn’t understand, but she didn’t stop walking. With a low growl, Jackie seized her arm and hauled her out of the tide of pedestrians. In the alcove, he pinned her to the wall, trapping her there with an arm on either side of her narrow shoulders.

“We almost got caught. Why didn’t you listen to me?”

Emotions played across her face, against her will. “I don’t…” She whimpered, shrinking under his frame and his anger.

“I told you to get the fuck out of there and you didn’t.” He knew he should dial it back, step back, give her space. But she’d almost blown _his_ gig and he wanted a goddamn answer.

“I didn’t hear you,” She admitted softly, still trying to make herself as small as possible.

“What you mean, didn’t hear me? I was right fuckin’ there.”

She gestured to her ear, helpless and ashamed all at once. “Busted. Yesterday, it… I think it fritzed out after the PD…”

Jackie leaned his head against his elbow and closed his eyes. Of course. Fuckin’ implants. They break and you’re useless until a riperdoc gets to you.

“Why didn’t you tell me? Get it fixed?” He asked, his voice and posture softening. She huffed out a laugh, breath warming his chest.

“With what money, Jackie? Shit’s not cheap, one was still working fine. I figured we get paid, I take care of it, no harm, no foul.”

“Tell me this shit next time, _está_ _bien_? Ay, _chingado_.” He pushed back from the wall, “C’mon, let’s go.”

She trailed after him, a few steps of distance between them, hesitating… still fearful. He was headed in the wrong direction from the drop-off. “Jack…?” He could hear the unspoken question in her voice and turned to find her standing at the corner of the building, one hand resting on the concrete face of the wall. Each of her knuckles was clearly defined, purple-black scabs standing out on each against ivory skin. Like the markings of a die, one that never could seem to roll the right number.

“C’mon,” He repeated, gesturing for her to follow, “Ripperdoc near here. Let’s get you fixed up, then we’ll get paid.”

“Don’t… don’t those things usually happen in reverse order?” She hadn’t moved, still so small in the shadow of the megabuilding. Jackie backtracked, slipping an arm around her shoulders and moving her in the direction he intended.

“You can’t tell me all that’s comfy.” He gestured to her face with his free hand. Honestly, the split in her eyebrow probably needed stitches last night. He should have taken her then. “Vik’ll fix you up on credit, we can pay him back tomorrow.”

She didn’t seem convinced, but she didn’t fight him either as he lead her, either. And that he could live with.

* * *

He dialed her number again, listening to it ring before going to her messages. “Ey, V. Haven’t seen you in a while. Wonderin’ if you’re good. Call me.”

Momentarily, he ponders ordering another beer, but instead, he pushes back from the bar, feet leading him to the door and outside. It’s not raining, for the moment, but the pavement is glistening and the threat hangs tight and imminent in the air. Jacki rounds his shoulders, hunching in on himself for warmth. He didn’t really know where he was going, but instinct led him through alleys and side streets, heavy steps carrying him forward. 

The sun was setting, soon Night City would be abuzz in neon. It was never dark there, but once the sun went down, it could get damn cold. Urgency spurred him forward as he cast his net wider, his path unwavering in its intent. 

Jacking into any of the motels he knew she frequented turned up no rooms listed in her name. She wouldn’t be anywhere nicer--both of them hadn’t worked in days. Colder weather sent people indoors, and people indoors meant that crime dropped, so there was less demand for them. Finding her would be damn hard, but he couldn’t shake the mental image of her, purple eyes blown wide with Black Lace, frozen and unresponsive. Fuck, he didn’t even know if she used--she had to though, right? Otherwise, why couldn’t she hold down a place?

“Goddamit, V,” He muttered, calling up her contact again. A few rings, and then straight to messages. Again. He’d have to start asking around for her.

“Ey, you see a girl ‘round here? Tiny little thing, blue hair… looks like she lost a fight? No? Thanks.”

He couldn’t guess how many times he repeated himself before someone grunted affirmatively and jerked their head in the direction of an abandoned plaza--one of those spaces city planners had made to fill up with stalls and vending machines, for kids to play in, but now it lay dark and strewn with trash.

That was where he found her, huddled in a small space between a dead vending machine and the wall. Pale, still, and unresponsive. In his chest, Jackie’s heart faltered at the sight and blame raced through his brain like lightning. _I should have insisted she stay with us. I should have found her sooner._

Jackie dropped to his knees, fumbling as he felt for signs of life. He was so fuckin’ cold he couldn’t feel anything. _Fuck_. He could jack into her biomon to check, but he knew she’d _hate_ the invasion of her privacy. Fuck it, if she was alive, she could hate him later. He freed his jack from his own wrist and swept her hair aside to look for her port. It secured in place with a click and her data flashed before his eyes. He tried to ignore what came up on the screen--everything except her status: _UNCONSCIOUS_. She was alive.

He disconnected quickly and levered her out of the space. Hefting her frame in his arms didn’t take much effort, yet still, he was trembling. 

“C’mon, V. Let’s get you home, huh?” He murmured, “Let’s go home.”

* * *

She was freezing. Her body trembled, wracked with violent shivers as her muscles fought to generate the warmth to keep her alive. Somewhere, dimly in the back of her mind, V recalled that freezing to death wasn’t supposed to hurt this bad. She felt like she was drowning in an icy ocean, fighting to reach the surface but it slipped further from her grasp the more she struggled.

 _Ey, no, V! You’re okay, you’re okay._ She must be imagining the voice, a last-ditch effort by her brain to make the end less painful. Kind of it, in a twisted way. Maybe the first kind thing it had ever done for her. She was ready to slip under for good, let the darkness embrace her, but suddenly, searing heat wrapped around her. She was on fire, she was burning, she was…

V’s eyes jerked open and her lungs filled with gasping breath as her scrambled, numb mind tried to make sense of the lights and the softness and the _warmth_. And the warmth… and the… warmth?

Warmth. Ashes. Honey and smoke and crushed velvet. Cloves and leather and… Jackie.

“ _Jackie._ ” She breathed, the tension melting away. She was still cold as shit, but the fear was gone. She didn’t know where she was yet, but Jackie was here, and that meant nothing bad would happen. 

“ _Sí, chiquita. Soy yo_.” He murmured soothingly, tucking the heated blanket around her shoulders. “Thought we lost ya, for a minute.”

V surveyed their surroundings, relief settling in as she recognized them. His room. She’d stayed there before. Her clothes in his open closet, her sodden clothes on his floor by the door. Her bag leaning against the wall. Her sneakers discarded in the middle of the room. 

“Not… gonna get rid of me that easily,” She huffed. The air was warm and burned her lungs a little. She briefly wondered if this is how a frozen burrito felt in the microwave. Jackie laughed, and she realized it might possibly be her favorite sound in the world. How could she not have trusted him? How could she have held him at arm’s length all this time, when he wanted nothing more but to be her friend?

 _Stop that,_ She snapped inside her own head, _You’re not dying so don’t get mushy._

V pushed herself into a seated position, ignoring the way it made her head swim and her stomach roll rebelliously. She moved to swing her feet to the floor, but Jackie blocked her, pushing her knees back down and snugging the covers back around her.

“Jesus, where do you think you’re going?” He asked, but it was more of a rhetorical question, since he was letting her go exactly _nowhere_ right now. _En ninguna parte._

“You’re not my mom, Jackie,” V grumbled, pushing against him still. She was going to stand, she was going to get dressed, and she was going to get out of there, in that exact order.

“No, I’m not. I’m just the _pendejo_ who dragged your frozen carcass out of a Jig Jig Street back alley. Some people would call me a friend maybe, but _no_ , not V!”

His words cut deeper than expected, judging by the stricken look on her face. She couldn’t even muster up her normal, guarded expression to hide it. He’d sliced her to the very core of her, left her bleeding and raw. Tears welled up, threatening to spill over the dam of her emotions.

“God, I’m such an asshole.” Her voice wasn’t any louder than a breath. He couldn’t help but grunt in agreement.

“Yeah. You are.” 

Emotions played across her face freely, for once she didn’t filter them. Eventually, one of them had to cave, and it was Jackie, tucking the heated blanket back around her like a poncho, overlapping it and draping across her shoulder to secure it in place.

“I don’t get you, V.”

She laughed this time, but it was raw and harsh and ruthless. “I don’t get me, either, Jackie.”

He rubbed his face, obviously tired. With a flash of guilt, she wondered what time it was, and whether he’d been up all night to keep an eye on her. 

“Promise you won’t run away if I crash on the couch for a few hours?” He asked, sounding not at all hopeful about the answer.

V hesitated, unsure what response to give. Finally, ever so slowly, she scooted over in the ultimate show of faith and penitence, making space for him. “Sleep here, and I can’t.” She offered, voice small.

She couldn’t tell him she wouldn’t run. She couldn’t promise him that when it was encoded in her DNA, so deep no ripperdoc could ever cut it out of her. It wasn’t something she could give him, but she could try and make concessions. For him. For her friend.

He looked at her, eyes hooded and brow lowered, looking for the punchline. Finally, seeing none, he huffed and sat on the bed beside her. She appreciated that he moved slowly, like she was a dog who’d bite, as he laid back. He stayed on top of the covers, she was safely cocooned beneath them. Jackie gave her as much space as his bulk would allow in the small cubby that was his bed, rolling onto his side to face away from her, as if she weren’t there. Slowly, she rolled onto her side, facing the wall. 

Hesitantly, she moved her hand into the space between them, resting it on the mattress, but not daring to look back. Three measured breaths later, and the weight of his hand joined hers, fingers entwining with hers carefully. Softly, sleep took them both.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should I be working instead of writing three chapters today? Maybe, but where's the fun in that? 
> 
> TW for non-explicit mental illness struggles.

Panic clawed at her throat, strangling her. V’s eyes darted around seeking a way to escape but her body wouldn’t cooperate. She couldn’t lever herself from the couch and out the door, no matter how badly she wanted to. He wasn’t even blocking her path to the door--why couldn’t she just go, just run? No matter how hard her lungs worked, she couldn’t suck down enough air to stop the screaming in her head. _Just go!_

 _Stay, V._ Jackie had asked her. The words ricocheted around her skull worming through her brainmeat. _Just stay here._

He couldn’t do that to her. He couldn’t trap her, ask her to stay in one place, not after he’d said he was her _friend_. Friends didn’t do that, they _couldn’t_ do that. Why would he ask her to do something she couldn’t do?!

Slowly, gently as if reaching for ID in front of cops in one of those old shows, as if reaching for his gun, Jackie pulled something from his back pocket and offered it to her on an outstretched palm. An offering. A sacrament for a frightened, starving stray. 

V recognized the chip in his palm. She hadn’t seen one in a long time, hadn’t _had_ one in a longer time. It was a key. For the door of the Welles’ apartment. For her. All she had to do was reach out, just take it. Slot it into the little port underneath her hair, waiting empty for just a thing like this. But it was trading a cage for a chain. She could roam a little farther, but was still tied to one place. 

Or she could run--slip her collar, block his holo, never see him again. Leave him, leave whatever this was, behind. Somehow, she just couldn’t bring herself to make a move.

Jackie crouched, still moving deliberately, putting himself in her line of sight. His expression was the most sober she’d seen on him. 

“This isn’t an ultimatum, V. This is an option. You can walk out of that door whenever you like, but you’ll always be able to walk back in, too, huh?”

Slowly, her fingers curled around the tiny device, warm from his palm. She turned it over in her hands, looking at it intently. She wasn’t ready yet, and he could see it. Jackie sighed, straightening up.

“Just… hang onto it, would ya? I’m not givin’ up on ya, holmes.”

* * *

Watching V come out of her shell was like watching a flower bloom. Jackie’d never had a pet before, but he had to imagine the experience with V was damn close to those people who trapped some of the few feral animals left in Night City and rehabilitated them. So, maybe her guard was never completely down. Maybe there were nights… weeks… when she didn’t sleep--at all. Maybe sometimes a busy street or a flash of neon or an unexpected touch would send her into a shutdown. Maybe she was exhausting at times… but when she opened herself up, it was all so worth it.

The pair was a favorite of Padre, a local fixer who’d seen both of them grow up. Even after Jackie had split from the Valentinos, he’d stayed on good terms with Padre, but his hotheadedness often cost him jobs before. But the old man liked V’s ability to inflict some sensibility on Jackie. Brains and brawn, he often joked, passing the cred chip to V after a job.

“You keep this one in line, ey?”

“Always, Padre. You know it,” She laughed, every time. She was also too good for the likes of Jackie, Padre thought, but he kept that part to himself. He remembered what she looked like when she’d left, and when she’d gotten back. At least, with Jackie, her cheeks had a little color, even if she did accumulate scars more quickly.

Walking out of the Valentinos’ warehouse, Jackie watched V from the corner of his eye. Her asymmetrical cut had grown out longer, but it was still vibrantly, violently turquoise. Her brows had been dyed to match, though now one featured a rakish slice through it, a souvenir of their first run in. As much as she complained about it, Jackie also noticed that she hadn’t switched which eye her hair tended to fall over, leaving it on display for the world to see. But honestly, walking down the street, humming something she’d heard on the radio under her breath? He could hardly believe she was the same, scrawny little street rat.

“Hey,” She said, interrupting his thoughts, “I’ll shoot you your share in a bit. I gotta go do something.”

With any other person, Jackie would offer to tag along. That is, after all, what friends did. V wouldn’t accept, though. Wouldn’t tolerate it, really. And him even offering would raise her hackles. When V had to go do something, you just had to let her go, and trust she’d show back up on her own schedule. And don’t even think of calling her when she was on one of her errands. But he knew she was good for his cut of the eddies, so he merely nodded.

“A’ight. Catch ya later, then.”

Hell, if V was going to disappear for however long V was planning to disappear for, then Jackie was going to grab the metro across town and drop in on Misty. These days, he and V were practically joined at the hip, and more than once Misty had remarked that it felt like she was dating both of them. He figured a solo surprise visit would probably sweeten her attitude a little. Remind her that she was his girl, that he _wanted_ her to be his girl. And, knowing V, she wouldn’t be home tonight. ‘sides, if she needed to get in, she had Mama Welles’ number.

* * *

Next morning, Jackie didn’t make an effort to leave Misty’s particularly early. A little morning messing around before Misty kicked him out because she needed to open the shop and catching the metro back to Heywood ate up most of the morning. It surprised him a little, heading up the steps to his building to see a flash of V’s turquoise hair disappearing between the front doors on her own way home. Jackie almost never saw her in the wild anymore, unless it was meeting up at the Coyote or another hangout they frequented.

“Ey, V! Wait up!”

She’d heard him, apparently, because she’d stalled in the atrium long enough for him to push through the doors. The corner of her mouth quirked up at him in greeting, about as much of a smile as she ever managed, and one she saved almost exclusively for him. 

“Misty’s was good?” V reached up and wiped a smudge of dark lipstick off his cheek. His cheeks flamed at her implication. She nodded towards the elevator. “C’mon. I need a shower. And food.”

Once they reached their floor, V stepped out, leading the way down the hall. Jackie followed, a head taller and a few steps behind. The brawns to her brain, always at her back. V pressed her palm to the door, and it slid aside. Nothing out of the ordinary there, except that Jackie was usually the one to press _his_ hand to the door to unlock it, because V had never activated the key chip he’d given her. Last he’d seen it, she’d tucked it in a pocket of her bag for safekeeping. 

V had activated the chip. Jackie couldn’t even begin to name the feelings that stirred inside him at that realization, but she was acting like nothing had happened, so he forced himself to do the same. She was stripping out of her jacket, and sneakers, kicking both to the side of the door as she headed towards the stairs and the bathroom. It seemed Jackie wasn’t the only one who’d been out all night, but unlike him, where V went was a mystery.

“Heat something up, would ya?” She called downstairs. He heard the thunk of a belt buckle hitting the floor above his head. “I’m fuckin’ starved.”

It amused Jackie to hear phrases he used so often on her lips. Even though it seemed like V never listened to him, apparently she did--she just was as stubborn as he was. As he puttered in the kitchenette, he listened to the familiar sounds of her freshening up: the water turning on, the yelp she always made when she stepped into the cold stream because she hadn’t waited long enough for the hot water, then humming.

Odd little creature. Odd little life with an odd little brain and an odd little way of connecting to the world. But, a month and a half into their friendship, Jackie finally felt comfortable assuming that she considered him a friend, too. He’d knocked down her walls just as fast as she’d put them up, and it finally seemed that she’d gotten tired of construction. That’s not to say she was an open book, though. There were still plenty of clearly delineated boundaries in their lives--she’d just stopped jumping out of her skin every time she turned around and he was there.

That didn’t mean _he_ didn’t still jump when she appeared. She could be damn sneaky, and he turned away from the counter to find her standing behind him, blue locks trailing rivulets that ran down her skin to disappear under the well-loved fabric of her favorite tank top. Wordlessly, she took one of the plates from his hand, nodding in thanks, and settled on the couch, legs folded underneath herself.

He settled on the other couch, near but not crowding her, the way he’d learned to do. Jackie wasn’t one to believe in comfortable silences, but when it came to V, they seemed to come easily. Or rather, easily now, now that he’d practiced not filling the dead air with chatter. She was quiet as she ate, and he expected her to stay that way. So when she did speak up, he had to work quick to wipe the surprise off his features.

“Saw Vik yesterday.” She offered. An olive branch. He’d never met someone more secretive about their comings and goings than V, and he’d met a lot of secretive people. So he could see this comment for what it is. V was reaching out, offering him friendship in return.

Jackie hummed, mouth too full to answer and also too afraid to say the wrong thing. 

“He wanted to try a new implant.” She gestured vaguely to her head before dropping her hand limply in her lap. “Said it might help with my…” She trailed off, not sure what words to use to explain. Honestly, she didn’t need to. They both knew there was something not right with her head. In the organic sorta way, not anything like cyberpsychosis. Just run-of-the-mill faulty synapses. “Needed to keep me overnight, keep an eye on me and make sure it settled in right.”

“Vik’s good people,” Jackie offered in return, feeling a comment on her condition wouldn’t be the right move. V nodded folding in on herself a little. She’d moved back to her guarded mode, and Jackie kicked himself. Wrong choice. He’d lose her if he didn’t find the right one quick.

“Had an uncle like you,” He said, “Well, not _like you_ like you, just, y’know, not square up there. Everything came harder to him. Wasn’t his fault, just the cards he got dealt.”

From the corner of his eye, he watched her, waiting for a sign he’d said the right thing or doubled down on his mistake. She shifted, but he couldn’t tell what she was thinking. Her plate clinked softly as she set it on the coffee table, lunch half-eaten. That didn’t mean anything, really. She ate like a bird at the best of times, too.

“Need more help than I know how to accept.” She didn’t look up from the plate, didn’t look at him. Any onlooker would think it an innocuous comment, and never see the monumental change it represented between them. When she did finally look up, Jackie met her eyes. They burned amethyst and sunlight, false and bright but so real at the same time. “Thanks for… pushing. I guess.”

“ _Siempre,_ ” He answered breezily, feeling anything but. Her friendship could feel like a minefield, but for some reason, he didn’t feel like finding his way back out. She quirked her little half-smile at him, and he felt… lighter than he had in a while.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I watched the season finale of Mando and had big feels, so I came over here and channeled it into another chapter. Oops.
> 
> TW: Medical procedure.

“Jackie said you told him you’d seen Vik.” Misty squeezed V’s hand gently. V gripped her hand back.

“Almost done. Just breathe… good girl,” Viktor murmured from somewhere above V’s head. 

She’d had the new implant for a week, now, and while it wasn’t quite calibrated it had helped more than she’d expected. The world seemed a little quieter, a little less cacophonous. Or maybe it was just her mind that was. Either way, she adjusted better to the chaos of Night City, now. She’d even managed an almost-normal sleep schedule, which she was sure Jackie appreciated. He didn’t have to listen to her restless pacing when he was trying to sleep in the room they now shared.

The pressure in her head was building, and there was an uncomfortable pinching sensation near the base of her skull. Vik tried to keep her comfortable, but he needed her to be conscious and aware while he worked, so she could tell him if something wasn’t feeling right. Misty’s thumb ghosted across V’s knuckles, trying to comfort her, trying to keep her calm and still and from feeling alone. From feeling like a butterfly under glass, pinned in place and helpless. After Jackie and his mom, V was convinced that Vik and Misty were the only good people left in Night City. It was easy to see why her friend adored the spiritualist.

“Yeah,” V hissed, tensing as the probing sensation grew more intense. It seemed Vik had a different definition of _almost done_ than she did. 

Misty was… a good friend, too. Maybe it was patient confidentiality or something, but she never shared when V’s comings and goings involved a trip to see Viktor, no matter how much Jackie complained about it or mused aloud to his girlfriend where she went. She also appreciated that Misty never seemed jealous of her friendship with Jackie. Or at least, she never expressed it around V if she was.

The blonde had remarked that she felt like she was dating both halves of the duo of mercs, but her tone made it seem… affectionate? V wasn’t used to affection, and couldn’t be all too sure of the intention behind the comment, but it had made her feel accepted and that wasn’t something she felt all that often. Misty accepted V’s boundaries without question, and if anything felt like it might be an act of love, it was that.

Lightning shot through her skull as the pressure turned to pain and V cried out, tears welling up and threatening to overflow onto the table she lay face down upon. At the sound, Misty’s other hand wrapped around V’s, cradling her patient’s hand between her own. A large, warm palm pressed against the space between V’s shoulder blades, Vik was comforting her as she rode out the sudden sensation of the implant firing her synapses in overtime.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. It’s just the implant rebooting after we recalibrated it. Let it pass and I’ll close you up.” His hand moved in small circles, rubbing a distraction into her skin, giving her something else to focus on besides her brain short-circuiting. As the pain softened, so did V, melting under the ripperdoc’s hand. “Good girl. You’re done. Sit up when you’re ready.”

It took V a minute to process that Vik had soldered her flesh back together while she’d been occupied by the pain, comforting her the whole way through it. She’d been in the care of other ripperdocs before, but no one treated her as good as Vik did. That’s why she’d made Jackie promise to never take her to anyone else if she wouldn’t bleed out on the trip.

“ _Chingado_ ,” She whispered, borrowing a favorite phrase of Jackie’s. V felt like she could physically handle sitting up, but wasn’t quite there mentally. Vik patted her shoulder and she heard his stool roll away as he moved to deal with the cleanup. Misty hadn’t let go yet. Probably wouldn’t until V showed more signs of life.

“It meant a lot to him, V. I’m sure it wasn’t easy.”

V lifted her head slightly, tipping it side to side experimentally before committing to further motion. When everything felt as expected, she took her hand back from Misty and pushed herself up, sitting on the table with her legs dangling over the edge.

“It wasn’t.” V wasn’t one to say a lot when a little would suffice, but Misty was _trying_ to be friendly. V needed to try, too. After an awkward pause, she added, “He deserves to know, though.”

“I’m glad you think that.” Misty had stood and was offering V a hand to help her hop down from the table. “He likes you a lot. You’re probably his best friend, honestly. I know you haven’t known each other long, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true.”

Misty was trying to make eye contact with V, who wanted very much not to do that. She forced herself to, though, as uncomfortable as she felt. This was friendship--baring your soul to people who could crush it, but wouldn’t. Vulnerability hadn’t been her strong suit, but between Jackie and Misty… her messiness was already known in this place. 

V could see her own reflection in the grey-blue of Misty’s eyes, scared and vulnerable and disoriented. _What’s new?_ She realized that those might have actually just been Misty’s eyes, a little plain, but very real--no optics to enhance the vision that was already staring through V’s soul. You didn’t run into too many people who weren’t modded in at least some way in Night City, whether out of convenience or fashion or for work like hers were.

The silence stretched too long, V couldn’t force out a reply in time, and the moment broke. Misty pulled back, leaving V to sort herself out as the blonde moved to help Viktor square his clinic away. V kicked herself. She didn’t know how to connect with others, always messed it up. Jackie was easier, at least. He wore his heart on his sleeve. He’d tell V what he wanted from her, and then it was up to her to decide whether she was able to give it or not.

Misty had a wisdom that ran far beyond her years and her experiences, and it unsettled V. She felt that Misty could read her like a book in just a glance. V couldn’t decide what she wanted to share or hold back, just endure. Still, she _wanted_ Misty to like her. 

With a sigh, V pulled up Jackie’s contact and hit send. A moment later, his face appeared in the corner of her vision.

“Ey, V. _Qué onda_?” His greeting was cheerful, as always. Maybe there was something to Misty’s words. She couldn’t think of a time when Jackie _wasn’t_ happy to hear from her. Taking a deep breath, V laid her cards down on the table, deciding to show her hand and let him take it from there. Friends. She could do that.

“Hey, Jack. You busy?” There, she’d give him an out.

“Never too busy for you, _chica_. What’s up?”

“I… Vik worked on my implant, and I was wondering if you could pick me up?” Okay. Cards on the table. She asked him for something, now to see if he’d give it.

“ _Por supuesto_. I’m on my way. Hang out there, yeah?”

“Yeah, sure.” She agreed, but he’d already hung up. The box that had shown his feed closed, and she focused beyond it to realize Misty was watching her, a self-satisfied smile on her lips. 

“Jackie’s on his way. He says hi.”

“He doesn’t,” Misty laughed, “When you’re on his mind, I’m not.”

V shrugged ruefully. “He will when he gets here?”

Misty could agree with that. Jackie was plenty doting, if a bit of a one-track mind. He’d lavish her with compliments and affection before whisking V home on the back of his bike. Maybe it wasn’t so much that she was with both of them as it was the girls were both with Jackie. It wasn’t worth fretting over, she and V held different keys to different parts of that man.

* * *

The back of Jackie’s motorcycle might have been V’s favorite place in the city. She felt untouchable there as he wove through traffic, their seats shifting with the dodge and weave of the nimble vehicle. The sun beat down on them as they reached the edge of the city and Jack opened the throttle wide, the leather of his jacket was warm underneath her cheek and she was sheltered from the worst of the wind by his frame.

Around them, the city fell away to rolling desert, traversed by degrading asphalt and haunted specters of towns that once meant something, before Night City devoured everything in its orbit like a black hole. They flew across the landscape, or as close to flying as two kids from the streets of Heywood would ever come. 

V dared to lift her head to peek over Jackie’s shoulder, eyes watering as the desert whipped past. Jackie noticed her from the corner of his eye and turned his head just enough to meet her gaze, the corner of his eye crinkling as he smiled behind the collar of his jacket. Misty hated the bike, wouldn’t go on it with Jackie. But then again, Misty didn’t need to fly like they did. She was content on the ground, didn’t feel the same burning desire that V and Jackie did to touch the sun.

Seized by the freedom, V freed Jackie’s waist from her grip, leaning back and stretching her arms outward as if they were wings. Her unzipped jacket lapped around her, caught in the wind, but she paid it no mind. Over the sound of the engine, she unleashed a yipping, keening wail, imitating the coyotes that ruled the ruins they passed. Jackie’s shoulders shook with laughter she couldn’t hear over the sound of the wind whipping her hair around her face, and he opened the throttle up the rest of the way, squeezing the last ounces of speed out of the bike.

They couldn’t run forever though, and eventually, Jackie slowed the bike, looking for the turn they needed. The pair of mercs was out in the badlands for a job, after all, not a joyride.

Their contact would be waiting for them deep in the desert, ready to trade a cred chip holding more zeroes on it than V had seen in one place for some top-level proprietary corp data. The easy part was picking up the heavily encrypted shard from the contact and paying them. The hard part would be smuggling that data back into the city. V had--reluctantly--agreed to slot the shard into her cyberdeck and carry it back, hopefully well-hidden within the other daemons she had loaded. 

Jackie slowed the bike to a stop outside the shambles of what had once been a home, V thought. Neither made a move to dismount the bike, until finally V sighed and swung her leg over the back of the bike. Anxious didn’t begin to describe the knots in her stomach. She hadn’t even been out on a job this far from the city, and while she knew Padre wouldn’t fuck them over… things could go wrong.

A heavy hand fell on V’s shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze to remind her she wasn’t alone. She reached up and patted Jackie’s fingers awkwardly. In the shadows of the half-standing building, someone was stirring. 

“You Welles?” The voice carried clearly in the silence of the desert air. Jackie stepped forward, in front of V, one hand casually resting on the grip of his pistol.

“Yeah. You our contact?”

The owner of the voice emerged from the shadows. He was a corpo rat for sure--too clean and shiny for the setting. Too shifty and nervous to be experienced at this. His pale eyes darted around, looking for any sign they’d been followed or brought back up. V’s fingers curled around the tanto she wore at the small of her back, under the leather jacket Jackie made her wear to ride. She still had an aversion to violence, but just feeling the tang in her palm was comforting. 

“I am. You have the eddies?”

Wordlessly, Jackie held up the cred chip between two meaty fingers. Satisfied the corpo reached behind his ear to withdraw the shard from his own port. They exchanged hardware at an arm’s length, each stepping back when they had what they needed. Jackie passed the shard to V, who turned it over in her fingers to examine it. It was still warm, not a sensation she wanted to jack into her own skull.

Time was wasting though, so she lifted her hair, fingers practiced as she slotted it in her ‘deck and pressed ‘til it clicked. 

“Be careful with that thing,” The contact warned, watching her, “It’s got a nasty virus guarding it. Access it without the code series and it’ll wipe the data and destroy the system trying to crack it.”

“ _Fuck…_ ” Jackie drawled, looking back at V. “Don’t touch it, huh, V?”

She wanted to snap that it was a little late, what with it mounted in her cyberdeck already, but she was busy dismissing the prompt asking if she wanted to decode the encryption. No, no she did not. She gave Jackie a thumbs up when she was done.

“All good, Jack. Let’s get out of here. I don’t want to hang onto this any longer than I have to.”

The ride home was decidedly more sober, their earlier mood dampened by the ticking time bomb in V’s head. _At least, for once, it’s not my brain_ , she thought humorlessly. 

* * *

The hand-off went smoothly, at least. As soon as the chip was free from her cyberdeck, V found that she couldn’t steady her hands. She passed it to Jackie to handle, not trusting her trembling fingers. Her chest was tight and she felt a scream working its way up her throat with every passing second. She couldn’t wait for this contract to close.

Their client disappeared around a corner and V didn’t hesitate a single second longer to throw herself face-first into Jackie’s chest, locking her arms around his waist as if he was the only life preserver cast into a stormy sea. A noise somewhere between hysterical laughter and heart-rending keening tore from her chest as she sobbed the fear out in the safety of his shadow.

“Easy, V. Easy.” He comforted her. His voice rumbled in his chest, more a vibration against her forehead than a sound she could hear. She was hidden in his embrace, his frame folded around hers to shield her from the world. V could feel his breath, warm and damp on her part. The world hadn’t ended, no one had pushed the big red button that would have punched her clock for good. 

Jackie had known V was scared, but he hadn’t expected her to seek comfort in his arms. Typically, V would disappear for a few days, showing up only after she’d processed the fear. Just because it was new though, didn’t mean that he didn’t welcome it. Jack rested his chin on her head, letting her cling, fingers tangled in his shirt and chains as she pressed against him like she could be absorbed into his chest. If he could have let her hide in the safety of his rib cage, nestled up under his heart, he would have. But barring that impossibility, the next best option seemed to be to take her home.

“Let’s get you home. C’mon.” Jackie gently pried her off of him, herding her towards the bike waiting behind them. Fifteen, twenty minutes tops, and they could be back at the apartment, protected from the terrors of the world that would use tiny, blue-haired girls to transport poison in their very veins with no intention of ever making the world a better place for them.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, hey fic, I wasn't intending on going here. Ah well, here we are, so enjoy!
> 
> TW: Alcohol

Even ensconced in the safe confines of their apartment, it was clear that V didn’t want to be alone. She lingered at the periphery of Jackie’s awareness, watching as he cleaned his pistols at his desk. Finally, he realized she was seeking an invitation, wanting him to see her, to acknowledge her. Something had flipped the script, and treating her as he normally did wasn’t satisfying her. 

Carefully, Jackie set down his handgun on the stained surface of his desk and swiveled to face her. He wiped solvent from his fingers with a rag and regarded her. Assuming he knew what V wanted at any given time usually ended in heartbreak, and sent her skittering away. She was good about asking for what she wanted, but she looked lost, this time. Now that he was looking head-on at her, she seemed uncertain she actually wanted that. 

“What do you want from me, _chiquita?_ ” Despite his words, Jackie’s voice was soft, undemanding. The voice he saved for her because he knew she needed it. Sometimes, he could forget, she was younger than he was by a bit. Looking at her now, the gap seemed larger than ever.

V hesitated. She didn’t know what she wanted. Old habits told her to run fast and far, but they were muffled. The implant in her head stifled the old patterns, but it didn’t replace them with new directives. She was caught in a raging sea of her emotions, with no way to tell which way the storm was coming from or where it was going. Jackie waited patiently as her mouth worked, trying to find the words to express the chaos clashing in her chest. 

“Hold me?” She finally asked, her voice a shade above a whisper.

Wordlessly, Jackie opened his arms to her. V crept into his lap, settling in shy and uncertain. Jack wrapped his arms around her, holding her there and encouraging her to tuck her head in the space between his shoulder and his jaw. He’d be safe assuming he had more experience holding people than V had being held, even though it had been her plea. With his jacket draped over the back of his chair, she could feel his bare arms on hers. He felt warm and solid and real. Grounding. 

Jackie lost track of how long they remained like that, V’s forehead against his neck and her fingers tangling idly in his gold chains. Hours, if he were to judge by the slant of the light falling through the window, tracing a path on the floor. She shuddered off and on, her body wracked with tremors as her system bled off the extra adrenaline. When she did, he tightened his hold on her until it passed. 

Her fingers traced over the cross around his neck, holding it up to the light to examine it better. He could remember the first time she’d asked him about it, whether he really believed in any of that stuff, and trying to explain the comfort of having a higher power to call on, even if he couldn’t remember the last time he’d set foot in any place more sacred than just Padre’s Valentino court. V hadn’t had a response to that. 

“My name’s Valerie,” She murmured, finally breaking the silence, “My real one.”

“I know.” Jackie rumbled in reply. Even if he hadn’t meant to look, he’d seen it all that night he jacked into her biomon. Her citizen number, her birthday, her full name, the medications she was supposed to be on, but wasn’t. She didn’t stiffen the way he’d expected her to at the confession.

“Do you know how old I am?”

“I do.” 

She was silent, chewing over the discovery that he knew her better than she’d thought. “Did you jack in?”

“Only because I couldn’t tell if you’d frozen or not.” Jackie’s voice was measured, level. He waited for her to push back and struggle out of his hold. He’d invaded her privacy, even if it was for a good reason at the time. “If you want to even the playing field, my port’s right there. I won’t stop you.”

Instead of replying, she let the cross fall to his chest and shifted in his lap until she was kneeling, her knees wedged between the arms of the seat and his hips, shins slanting across his thighs, her feet tucked between his knees. Jackie’s breath caught in his throat as she brought her face close to his, studying him intently. V pressed their foreheads together, one hand cupping the back of his head to pull him forward. 

“I should have trusted you sooner.” V’s breath was warm on his face, sweet like the melon gum she favored.

“Do you trust me now?” Jackie hardly dared to breathe, afraid to disrupt the moment. V nodded, head still pressed to his. “Then no more secrets, okay?”

“No more secrets.” She echoed. She released him, somewhat hesitantly, sitting back to take him in again. V reached out to trace one finger along the cyberware interrupting his features. The gesture interrupted the connection between his brain and the rest of his body, feeling like a short in his circuitry but diving so much deeper.

“Misty said she thought I was your best friend,” V said, not wavering her focus from her task. Jackie hummed in agreement. He made friends easily, but V was the person he felt all his masks drop around. “You’re my best friend, too.”

“What a relief!” Jackie laughed, jostling her from her perch. “I was wondering if you even liked me.”

V’s face scrunched in a pout as she resettled in place. “Shut up. You knew I did, ‘cause you kept inviting me on jobs. You don’t invite someone on a job unless you think they’re not going to shoot you when your back is turned.”

“Maybe I was just bein’ a nice guy.”

Her eyes rolled, lashes fluttering with the gesture. It made him grin. 

“I told you I was gettin’ one of my good feelin’s about us.” He shrugged, as if his prophecy hadn’t been a long-shot bet on a stranger. Her mouth quirked up in that half-smile, going so far as to reveal a brief flash of teeth. 

“C’mon,” V snorted, pushing herself off his lap and to her feet, “I’m hungry. Let’s go grab noodles.” 

“You buying?” She was turned away from him, fishing her favorite purple satin bomber jacket of a hanger in his closet. He was glad for the seconds it bought him to recover. He shrugged his own jacket on, reveling in the feeling of protection it gave. Jackie the ex-Valentino wasn’t vulnerable.

“Psh, fuck no. You jacked into my head, so you owe me.”

“Hey, I said I’d let you get me back.” He argued back, playfully. 

“And I want noodles, instead’ve seeing whatever dumb shit bounces around that meathead of yours.” She turned, sliced brow raised as she tugged on the front of her jacket. 

“Fine, fine. You’ll get your noodles. _Ay chingado_ , V.”

* * *

Later that night, Jackie watched out of the corner of his eye as V settled down for the night. Her evening ritual was restless, reflecting her fraught relationship with sleep in general. He turned a page of the book he was reading, trying to ignore the sounds of her changing into her pajamas across the room, the shuffle of her plugging in her phone, the rattle of pills as she tapped them out of the bottle Vik had given her and swallowed them dry.

She’d made up a nest in the corner of his room after moving in, preferring to sleep alone on the pallet rather than share a bed with him. After having shared a bed with her for a single night, he was relieved, too. She didn’t _sleep_. She just hovered in a near wakeful state for minutes at a time, before tossing and turning until she could settle again. It had gotten better under Vik’s care, but they were still ironing out the kinks of controlling her organic brain with cybernetic power.

He turned another page as she shuffled with her covers, rearranging her pillows and flopping against them, before sitting up to repeat the pattern with a huff. After three or four rounds past the typical amount, Jackie looked up. The rest of the room was dark, but the small light near his bed glinted off her hair. He set his book down, tenting it on the floor to mark his place, and moved over. 

He saw he’d attracted her attention, the light reflecting in her eyes. The optics had an eerie, cat-like glow in the darkness. Jackie patted the mattress next to him, where he’d recently vacated it.

“You might as well. You know you’re not going to sleep for shit tonight, anyways.” He said flatly. 

“I don’t want to keep you up,” She protested weakly.

“You do anyways. C’mere. Then I don’t have to get up when you have a nightmare.”

She made a face, the light barely catching the scrunch of her expression, but his own optics helped make her out. But she complied, climbing out of her nest in the corner and padding across the room. A cold breeze swept under the covers as she lifted them to climb under, but she dropped them into place and soon their little cocoon was warm again.

In the darkness, V shuffled a little and huffed again. Jackie tried to ignore her, closing his eyes and willing himself to sleep. Sleep didn’t come though, at least, not as long as V tossed and turned on the edge of the bed. He blew out a slow sigh. He should have expected this. Jackie reached out in the darkness, feeling for her. His fingers met with a tangle of silken hair, weaving their way through it to cup the back of her skull. The tips of his fingers brushed over the raised scar leftover from Vik’s work.

Tightening his arm, he dragged her to his chest. The motion was met with a surprised _hmph!_ but the sound was muffled by the fact that he’d pulled her face-first into his chest.

“Go the fuck to sleep, V.”

To his surprise, she didn’t push back, and a few moments later, her breathing had slowed and evened out as she finally slept. It didn’t take him long after that to follow her over the edge and into the abyss.

* * *

The club was more bearable than V would have expected. She wrote it off as Viktor’s hard work finally working its magic, numbing her as much as the rest of the residents of Night City. Her glass sweated against her palm, the scent of her drink gingery and sharp in her nose as she surveyed the club from her perch at the bar. She took a sip, not even sure what it was she was drinking. Jackie had ordered it for her, before excusing himself, presumably to visit the restroom. 

The music throbbed to the same rhythm as the writhing sea of bodies on the dance floor. Go-go dancers and waitresses dotted the landscape, busy with their work. V briefly wondered what their lives were like, how she’d fare if they traded places.

Merc work hadn’t even been on her bucket list, but options were limited for a Heywood street kid. She learned to pick pockets when she was still missing her front teeth, and that had been her path ever since. Granted, she’d always been more of a thief than a merc, but working with Jackie netted a variety of jobs she’d never be able to pull off with only her own strength. Still, steady jobs with bosses and time clocks weren’t for people with brains like hers.

She had drained her drink and was debating on ordering another when Jackie reappeared, slinging himself down onto the stool next to her. He swiveled to lean back on the bar, elbows resting on the neon edge so he could watch the dancers. This was more his type of scene, the set of his shoulders easy and carefree. He glanced at V and jerked his head towards the dance floor.

“Ey, V. Let’s go dance,”

“I can’t dance,” V said flatly, swiveling back to face the bar.

“I can’t either, but it’s fun,” He coaxed. She ignored him for a minute, but she could feel his eyes drilling into the shaved side of her head. If she looked over now, he’d be giving her those soulful puppy eyes he reserved exclusively for getting on women’s good sides. V wasn’t immune to it, not by a long shot. Jackie could be fuckin’ scary--shaped like a mountain that hit like a freight train, but he was so much more than just muscle. Somehow, Night City hadn’t robbed him of his joy or his big dreams.

If she looked to her right now, V would relent. Jackie would grab her hand and tug her over to the dance floor and they’d make complete and utter fools of themselves, but Jackie’s laughter would drown out the embarrassment worming in her chest. She’d be forced to admit that he was right, and that it _was_ fun, and then he’d want to go out with her and do it again the next night. Anything for a hit of dopamine. She held her hand out to him, giving in.

“Fine, _pinche pendejo_. Let’s go dance.”

Even if she wasn’t looking at him, it was impossible to miss the way he lit up. She suspected they made a good pair because of just how much of an opposite they were. Loved, lonesome. Large, small. Loud, quiet. Action, thoughts. Happy… well, happy-ish. Content. His hand closed around hers, engulfing it. V’d always known her build was on the delicate side, but she’d never truly felt like she was that much smaller than your average gonk… until she met Jackie, that is.

She let him tug her out of her seat and across the room to join the thrall. Smart dancers, or at least those who weren’t too intoxicated, cleared space when they saw the large man heading their way. As a result, they enjoyed their own bubble of space in the crush of bodies. V couldn’t say she minded--truth be told, she liked to dance, she didn’t like to touch strangers. With Jackie at her back and his hands on her hips… it wasn’t all that bad. And there wasn’t a man in here stupid or brave enough to try dancing with her when Jackie was right behind her.

 _“I used to pray to God, but I think he took a vacation, ‘cause now the state of Cali is run by these corporations…”_ V hummed along to the record the DJ was spinning, letting the music take her. 

Hips swaying, taking Jackie’s hands with as she bopped along. His chest brushed the back of her shoulders, but the closeness didn’t bother her anymore. V raised her hands, palms towards the sky, eyes slipping closed. Her knuckles brushed his chest, tracing up to his collar before her palm finally found a home cupping his jaw. She tipped her head back, letting it fall back against his jacket with her chin raised as she tilted his head down. When her eyes opened, she found his closed, too focused on the music and the sensation of her skin on his. 

V enjoyed the chance to watch him without him watching her back. Despite the image he cultivated, Jackie was usually uncannily observant. It didn’t leave her much space to see without being seen. Her belly felt warm, tendrils of heat spreading through her limbs with the alcohol. So caught up in observing she was that it took her a moment to register that his gaze was drilling back into her, looking down as she looked up. At this distance, it was easy to tell that his eyes were green, even with his hooded gaze. Her breath caught in her chest. She felt pinned in place, too hot, too tight to breathe or look away.

Her fingers ghosted along his jaw, finding the line of his cyberware and tracing it down the column of his throat and colliding with his collarbone at the bottom. Over the throb of the club, she could feel his heart beating against her back and against her fingertips as they lingered over the artery there. She didn’t know when they’d stopped moving, but the music in the club had lowered, transitioning between songs as the DJ talked about something she couldn’t be bothered to listen to.

“No secrets, right?” She wasn’t sure if she whispered it, if he heard or not, but he didn’t tear his eyes away from hers.

“No secrets.” His breath was warm on her face, bourbon and yuzu. He had heard her.

“I want to run.” At her words, his hands lifted off her hips, hovering, but not touching. He wouldn’t be the one to hold her back. “Run with me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... Anyways, that's it. Okay, goodbye!
> 
> Nah, I'm just kidding. Of course there will be more because I can't leave them alone.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Alcohol, tipsy driving (don't do this, you know these two are self-destructive idiots)

They didn’t run though, at least not in the way she wanted to run. But Jackie gave her what he could. He’d always give her what he could. And what he could give her right now was a chance to fly.

Alcohol sang in her veins in harmony with the engine as they wove towards the outskirts of the city. She was a few more drinks in than Jackie was, but he’d always handled his booze better. And she trusted him--if he said he was good to drive, he was. He might make some risky choices for himself, but he’d never involve her in them… unless there was a cred chip at the end of it.

He took them to the edge of the city, winding through the hills until they reached an overlook, a concrete retaining wall, really, holding back nature from the city below. Jackie killed the engine, listening to it tick and ping as it cooled in the night air. Below them, Night City surged up from the ground, twisting neon and projections. Rich and poor, good and bad--it was all there, spread out and glittering like a reflection of the night sky above.

V dismounted, eyes a little too bright in the glow of the neon metropolis. Just a little too drunk, a little too scared by life and everything it offered to give, and threatened to take. She sat down heavily at the edge of the wall, one leg bent and one leg dangling. Her arms wrapped around the bent leg, drawing her knee to her chest. Below, the seemingly endless dark abyss yawned open, but she was perched safe and high on the edge.

Gravel crunched behind her as Jack came to join her. V’s mood felt sharp and electric. She was the threat of a summer storm, looming over the city. Just being near her felt intimidating. He’d seen her this way before, but the occasions had grown fewer, and softer when they did come. But tonight she was in rare form.

“I’d burn this place down before I came back here.” V said, after a few moments of silence. Jackie looked over, watching the wind play with her hair. Her eyes were distant, impossible to read. Before he could ask, she elaborated, “When I left here, I told myself I’d burn down this whole goddamn city to the ground before I let it drag me back here. But here I am. Back again, still at the bottom.”

Her chin rested on her upraised knee as she stared straight ahead into the night. She tucked a few stray strands of hair behind her ear, before continuing.

“This place takes so much from you. Rips your heart out of your chest over and over. All I’ve ever wanted to do is run from here. Spent my whole life trying, but you can’t escape Night City. I just don’t know if I can give it any more of me without dying.”

“You’re not alone now, V. You got people at your back.” Jackie answered, turning his gaze to the city, “You got a family. Besides,” He cracked a smile, “Just a matter of time before we make it to the big time, huh? You and me, holmes.”

V smiled her ghost of a smile, listening to him. Ever the optimist, he was. Jackie had been fighting his way up from the bottom since he was born, and was hardly any further than where he started, but bless him if he didn’t think that his dreams were just around the corner.

“Why don’t you leave? Make it somewhere else?”

“You don’t leave your roots, V. No roots, and you’re no better than a tumbleweed, just going where you’re blown.” 

She shifted to face him, studying his face. 

“If I ran, would you?” She asked. _I love you, please come._

“If I stayed, would you?” He countered. _I love you, please stay._

“I can’t promise you that, Jackie.” Her voice was tight, ready to break. It was so many months ago he offered her that key, told her he wasn’t giving up on her. How many times had she let him down since?

“I know,” He said simply. V wasn’t the type you asked for promises from. She wasn’t the type you asked for anything from--you just took her as she was. She couldn’t be anything else, even if she’d wanted to be.

Silence stretched between them, weaving around them like an invisible net. Trapped there until one of them broke it, and neither wanted to be the one to do it. Finally, V took the plunge.

“So,” She sighed, “You wanna tell me about that new job you were so excited for?”

“Oh, yeah!” She could hear the excitement in his voice, the return to where he was comfortable, “Just something fronted by a little known someone named Dexter DeShawn.”

* * *

And so, like Icarus, they flew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... This story wrote itself to a close here, but I couldn't decide if I wanted a fix-it or more tragedy, so here's how this is going to go.
> 
> Hole in the Sun ends here. You can leave off with an ambiguous ending. Or you can choose your own adventure. I'm going to post two separate endings that will hopefully fulfill your angsty or fluffy desires for this li'l tale. They're all going to be added to the Holes in the Sun series and properly tagged so you can pick which ending you want to see (or read both!)
> 
> I'll probably also write some standalone one-shots that you can either enjoy on their own or as part of the greater Hole in the Sun story. Just things I'd wanted to write, but felt like they didn't fit the course of where this story was going as I wrote it. I'm not done with this duo by far!
> 
> Anyways, I just wanted to let you know that I won't leave you hanging, but you should also make sure you sub to the series if you want more of this story!
> 
> EDIT: Endings!
> 
> [A Way Out](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28211091/chapters/69129858) (Not the happy ending)
> 
> [Run With Me](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28232343/chapters/69182700) (Happy ending)


End file.
